Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on a club-record £35 million deal to sign Ajax centre-back Davinson Sanchez, sources have told ESPN FC.

Reports in Europe claim Spurs have already signed Sanchez and, while they are premature at this stage, they are confident of making the 21-year-old centre-back their first signing of the summer.

The deal would eclipse the £30m Spurs spent on both Erik Lamela in 2013 and Moussa Sissoko on deadline day last year.

However, De Telegraaf reported on Saturday morning that Ajax remain determined to retain the player, with director of football Marc Overmars telling the newspaper that the club have made Sanchez a "top offer" to sign a new contract.

Sanchez, who has two caps for Colombia, helped Atletico National to the Copa Libertadores and Colombian title before joining Ajax for less than £5m last summer. He was instrumental in the Eredivisie club's run to the Europa League final, where they lost to Manchester United, and he was named the club's player of the year.

VI Images via Getty Images

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino believes Sanchez is the perfect fit for his back three, and the youngster could end up playing alongside two other former Ajax players in Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld. Christian Eriksen also joined Spurs from the Dutch club and all three have been a huge success in north London.

Sanchez can also play at right-back, where Spurs are short of cover after Kyle Walker's departure, and Pochettino has previously said he wants to sign versatile players who can immediately challenge for a first-team place.

Sponsored Headlines

Comments

ABOUT COOKIES

We use cookies to help make this website better, to improve our services and for advertising purposes. You can learn more about our use of cookies and change your browser settings in order to avoid cookies by clicking here. Otherwise, we'll assume you are OK to continue.